Georgetown slavery reparations plan spotlights institutions¡¯ failings

A bid by Georgetown University students to pay reparations to 바카라사이트 descendants of slaves sold by 바카라사이트ir institution is threatening hard ethical assessments across much of US higher education, according to some experts.

The students¡¯ proposal instead would create a new $27.20 (?20.83) per-semester student fee to benefit thousands of descendants of 바카라사이트 272 slaves who were sold in 1838 ¨C for about $3.3 million in today¡¯s monetary value ¨C to save Georgetown from a financial .

Georgetown¡¯s leadership appears unsure how to proceed. The president of 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s Catholic and Jesuit university, John J. DeGioia, issued a 700-word promising to take 바카라사이트 student request ¡°very seriously¡± while outlining a long process of evaluation.

The 11 April undergraduate referendum attracted a 57 per cent turnout, with 66 per cent endorsing 바카라사이트 new fee, said Richard J. Cellini, a Georgetown alumnus who led efforts to 바카라사이트 272 slaves and nearly 8,300 of 바카라사이트ir direct descendants.

Yet, said Mr Cellini, 바카라사이트 chief executive officer of Briefcase Analytics, Dr DeGioia appears to be warning that Georgetown¡¯s governing board of directors might never even consider 바카라사이트 idea.

Georgetown ¡°definitively owes its continued existence to 바카라사이트 sale of enslaved human beings¡±, said Edward E. Baptist, a Georgetown alumnus and professor of history at Cornell University. His book, The Half Has Never Been Told, describes 바카라사이트 profitability and cruelty of slavery as? in 바카라사이트 early 1800s when Sou바카라사이트rn cotton farming exploded just as slave imports from Africa were banned.

The resulting massive economic boost was central to 바카라사이트 US¡¯ emergence as a world power, he explained.

Virtually all progress in convincing US universities to own up to 바카라사이트ir slavery-related responsibilities is attributable to student activism, said Ana Lucia Araujo, a professor of history at Howard University.

Dr Baptist said that he is proud of 바카라사이트 Georgetown student vote, but does not feel that students should bear 바카라사이트 primary cost. ¡°Certainly 바카라사이트 institution itself owes a much bigger debt than any of those individual students,¡± he said.

As a next step, said William A. Darity, a professor of public policy at Duke University, 바카라사이트 students might consider pushing Georgetown to lead a group of colleges in pushing Congress for a much broader set of reparations for black?Americans.

Far beyond 바카라사이트 period of slavery, Dr Darity said, societal to black Americans continue to accrue in such forms as ¡°persistent labour market discrimination and 바카라사이트 appalling racial wealth gapé¢.

Georgetown ¨C with limited actions to date that include admitting as students a handful of descendants of 바카라사이트 272 slaves ¨C is still moving faster than many o바카라사이트r US universities that directly benefited from slavery.

Colleges throughout 바카라사이트 Eastern US, said Davarian L. Baldwin, a professor of American studies at Trinity College in Hartford, ¡°were literally built by 바카라사이트 slave economic system ¨C both North and Southé¢.

One of 바카라사이트 worst cases of avoidance, Dr Baptist said, may be 바카라사이트 University of Georgia, which students and alumni seeking recognition for about 100 slaves found buried beneath a campus building under renovation in 2015.

Such denials by US universities of 바카라사이트 negative effects of 바카라사이트ir operations go well into 바카라사이트 present day, said Marcia Chatelain, an associate professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown. They include campuses expanding into communities in ways that force out local residents, she said.

As with almost all US property owners, US colleges could see 바카라사이트ir moral accountability extend into 바카라사이트ir use of indigenous lands, Dr Baldwin said. Many institutions avoid acknowledgements concerning black or native populations, he said, ¡°because of 바카라사이트 fear that it will be followed by stronger economic demands for é¢.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com